Parliament reaches out during week of events

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MPs and peers will take part in events across the country next week as part of a new national initiative to promote public engagement with Parliament and politics.

Parliament Week, which runs from Monday 31 October to Sunday 6 November, explores how democracy affects citizens and how they can participate in it.

It is backed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The first event takes place on Monday in the national museum in Cardiff, where the Welsh affairs committee will meet the public.

At Westminster there will be a "Young People's Question Time" at 6.30pm on Monday.

Chris Bryant, Sam Gyimah, Caroline Lucas and Jo Swinson will debate questions put to them by an audience of young people.

Other events include a half-day conference on campaigning in the People's History Museum in Manchester on Tuesday and a roundtable debate on social media and politics in Portcullis House on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday there will be an "exciting opportunity to quiz the Lords about issues that matter to you".

The event, entitled "What difference do the Lords make?", will be held in Portcullis House.

The public can also join the online debate on Twitter, using @HansardSociety with the hashtag #PeerTweet.

On the panel are Peter Riddell, Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Lord Soley, Baroness Young of Hornsey and Lord Norton of Louth.

There are events for younger people as well – On Saturday 5 November the Haslemere Museum in Surrey will hold a Guy Fawkes-themed morning activity for children aged 5 to 11 about the history of bonfire night.

Also on Saturday in Westminster there will be a day-long Parliament 'Hack Day', open to designers and developers of all ages, and a Right To Vote walk in Birmingham - local historian Don Hazzard for a walk around places in Birmingham which have links with the nineteenth century movement for electoral reform.

The highlight of Parliament Week 2011 will be the UK Youth Parliament debate in the House of Commons chamber on Friday.

The session is not open to the public but there will be live coverage all day on BBC Parliament.

Click here for more information about Parliament Week, including details of other events and videos and articles which bring to life the UK's democratic history.